October 17, 2012

West and Carlisle "went right back to the bar-b-cue"

DALLAS -- Delonte West talked about family, bar-b-cue and the commissary today.

In other words, it looks like the Dallas Mavericks are back on track with their eight-year veteran guard.

West was suspended after Monday's game against Houston because of an outburst in the locker room. Less than a day later the suspension was lifted after West met with coach Rick Carlisle and general manager Donnie Nelson.

West spoke about the meeting at this morning's shootaround.

"We're on the same page,'' West said. "We're a real family over here.

"Uncle Ricky handled the situation. We went and had a talk and we went right back to the bar-b-cue.''

For his part, Carlisle came out and started his interview with the media by asking: "How are all my nephews doing?''

After a hearty laugh, Carlisle added that the whole matter with West has been resolved.

"Most players in this league run on gas,'' Carlisle said. "Delonte runs on deisel.

"And so, you've got to listen to him and you've got to understand him. He's a little different.''

West is suffering from bipolar, so sometimes he engages in things unexpectedly.

"We had a good talk yesterday about some things that we needed to talk about,'' Carlisle said. "It's all about refocusing and getting back to basketball.

"We need him, we need him. He's back with the club and he's going to be available to play tonight.''

The Mavs host the Phoenix Suns at 7:30 tonight at American Airlines Center.

Carlisle said the Mavs didn't warn West about repercussions if he acts up again.

"There's an outstanding issue and we needed to talk about it, and he needed to refocus, and he's in the process of doing that,'' Carlisle said. "It's going to be work, it's going to be daily work for him to do that and I've got to help him and our organization is going to help him, too.

"It's that not big a deal, but my job in a leadership position is to make sure that everybody adheres to a code of conduct that we take pride in with this organization. It starts with our owner, it goes to our management, it goes to the head coach, our staff and the players, and then to you (media) guys.''

Carlisle wouldn't elaborate on what "outstanding issue'' he was referring to in regards to West. However, he added that:

"He's one of our better players, and it's all about communication. So he and I are going to keep talking.''

West, meanwhile, is just happy to put this entire episode behind him.

"We want to keep things in-house, but things that came out really had nothing to do with basketball,'' West said. "We got to the bottom of it and got some communication between those who were involved.

"Today is a new day.''

A new day that West has embraced. He even had some fun with the media after today's shootaround.

"I don't know why anybody didn’t come see me while I was in lockdown,'' West said. "Y'all are my friends now.